The Liberal Party (LP) has a strong chance of leading the Senate in the 15th Congress if it officially fields Senator Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan as its candidate for the Senate Presidency.

This assessment comes from no less than Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, who upped Sunday Pangilinan’s chances of taking the top Senate seat over LP stalwart Sen. Franklin Drilon or even Nacionalista Party (NP) President and Sen. Manuel Villar Jr.

“Sa aking paningin, may edge si Kiko sa (in my opinion, Kiko has an edge) the Liberal Party,” Enrile said over radio DZBB.

Enrile said the LP could lose the numbers needed to get the majority vote of 13 should it decide to push for Drilon’s candidacy.

He said Drilon would have difficulty securing the support of Osmeña.

“Kung si Frank (Drilon) ang susuportahan ng LP mawawala si (senator-elect) Serge (Osmeña) dahil hindi yata susuportahan ni Serge si Frank (If the LP decides to support Drilon, they would lose the support of Serge (Osmeña) because he would not vouch for Frank),” Enrile added.

“Kung si Kiko, mabubuo yung anim (If its Kiko, they will get six votes),” he pointed out.